Xander Mercury
"An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. So when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means that it's going to launch you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming. Aim. Higher." Alexander William "Xander" Mercury is a cab driver and vigilante residing in Empire City. After witnessing the kidnapping of his parents at the hands of the Agency as a child, Xander ultimately became the fearsome vigilante as an adult to stop anyone from suffering like him and to put an end to organized crime. Over those years, he became heavily seasoned as an expert crime fighter and archer, having fought and overpowered numerous criminal adversaries, most notably the extreme psychopath Ian Murphy. He also mentored his ward and partner vigilante Duncan Grey. Biography Early Life The son of Simon and Adrianne Mercury, Xander Mercury was born in Empire City, New York, on January 7, 1991. As an only child, he wished that he had siblings, idealizing what kind of relationship he would have with a younger brother. The Xander family identified as Catholic, but they would only attend Mass on Christmas and Easter. Xander grew up being a huge fan of baseball, acquiring a vintage card collection over the course of two years. He played baseball in the Little League, batting with over a .400 average. Xander lost his parents at a very young age. Xander disproved of his father's lust for violence, and turned to archery for combat, rather than firearms. Vigilantism After high school, Xander decided to use his abilities to make Hell's Kitchen a better place as a vigilante. One day, Xander bought a black outfit online, and wore it when fighting crime. Xander performed several missions without the use of his future automated quiver, instead carrying his arrows, pre-assembled, as a bundle carried in a fabric sling on his back. The same night, Xander tracked down a group of gangsters led by the Butcher who were engaged in kidnapping and sex trafficking. They planned on transporting a group of young women in a shipping container, but Xander snuck up behind them and attacked, knocking down many of the guards and avoiding the Butcher as he attempted to shoot him. Xander quickly subdued the gangsters and freed the women before dodging out of the way of the Butcher's gunshot and beating him senseless. Pursuing the Russians TBA Agent Career Recruited While he was in college studying history and how the Agency shaped the times, he was recruited right away to the Agency, where he studied at the Agency Academy of Operations, eventually becoming a special agent and was taught by his supervising officer. Mission in Paris Agent Xander was dispatched to retrieve an before it fell into the hands of the Agency's enemies. Light resistance was encountered while infiltrating the location. The item retrieved was analyzed to be an alien neural link. Mission in Malta A kidnapped asset was tracked to a facility owned by a wealthy mining philanthropist. Agent Xander approached the target compound from the beach. After deactivation of a high-security laser fence, he moved in to assist the extraction of the scientist. Unfortunately, the scientist was killed while attempting to overload the gravity device to destroy it so that it could not be turned into a weapon. Return to Vigilantism Xander chased down four robbers in Empire City. He subdued the first one who was about to kill a police officer. The second one, he cornered and brutally beat in the kitchen of a restaurant; the third one, who was interrupted by a man who nearly drove him over and whose car he was about to steal, he knocked out and told the driver to call 9-1-1. The final one took a teenage girl hostage and held himself up in a church. Xander tracked him down and cornered him where, after a brief stand off, he managed to subdue the robber and secure the girl's safety as officers arrived. As he watched from above, more officers arrived to the scene. Xander smiled happily, having now fully immersed himself in his vigilante life. Year One Year Two Taking on Sean Odorn On one of Xander's patrols, he caught a drug dealer. The same night, Sean Odorn blew up a building with a cleaning crew and a group of bankers working out a late night deal. Xander patched into police and fire, and showed up to rescue a man, after which he watched from above. The next morning, the news report said the bomber didn't steal any money, and Xander thought the guy just wanted to make a statement. Xander saw that the bomber's manifesto went online, containing 300 pages of anti-government hate. Xander thought he needed to find him before he found his next target, and started with the bomb, thinking since everyone's unique, he thought he could get some kind of signature on the guy, but the bomb residue was with the ECPD. Fortunately, Xander has an in with one of the officers at the department. He met the officer on the roof of a building, where Xander was given a sample of everything the CSU collected from the blast, including melted glass, multiple explosive fragments, and trace residue, and it looked like nitroglycerine, which meant that he was dealing with more than just a basement nutjob, someone with training. When the officer asked for a favor, another explosion went off downtown at the Empire Municipal Building. Xander checked the surrounding cell towers to find out there was a GSM spike of 3,800 megahertz two seconds before the blast, a frequency way outside the approved frequency for US Carriers. The signal was moving, leading Xander to find out he was mobile, and found an intersection. Xander chased the bomber on his motorcycle, but the tracking signal was scrambled, and the bomber escaped. Back home, Xander watched on television that the mayor was holding a unity rally at Rockefeller Plaza. Xander paid a visit to the mayor to wave him off, but it failed. The next morning, Xander analyzed the bomb remnants he got from the officer, and the design was identical the bombs used by an anti-government militia group. Lucky for Xander, they had a very active and hackable message board. Xander saw that one of their most prolific fans had an IP address in Empire City, which traced back to a computer in a local souvenir shop, who went by a username. Xander placed Duncan Grey at the unity rally. The night of the rally, Xander infiltrated the bomber's souvenir shop, where motorized sensors attached to motion detectors caught him still, and the bomber's voice appeared, stating that he packed explosives in the drywall of his store and if Xander moved, the store will go off. Xander thought the trigger would need to be hooked up to some sort of power supply, assuming that the detonator's connected to the store's electricity and not something independent like a car battery. Xander deduced that the building was built in the 70's, and found out the wiring in a lot of construction back then is defective, so if he were to sever one wire, it will blow fuses in the entire building, and shut off power to the bomb, which he did by shooting the fuse box. Xander left for the unity rally, where Duncan found the trigger for the RDX, which was in the sound equipment, which would be activated by cellular transmission, if Xander hadn't taken him down and his bombs. Year Three Ian Murphy's Cyber Financial Attack After a morning of training with Duncan Grey, Xander went on with his day when suddenly the electrical power in Empire City went out. He walked past a store of televisions when a mysterious figure explained that he would be bringing the city to its knees. After the transmission, the city's lights were switched back on. At his hideout, Xander used his hacking skills to find out that someone uploaded a system-wide virus, which deleted itself as soon as it completed its task. The figure soon made another broadcast, which Xander traced through breadcrumbs, but then learned that the Empire City Police Department dispatched a riot squad to Atlantic Standard Public Deposit Bank, so he and Duncan suited up and arrived on motorcycle. At the bank, they fired Tear-Gas Arrows into the unruly crowd gathering outside the bank doors, which dispersed them. Xander later learned that when a city bank goes under financial cyber attack, the mayor will reach out to the Treasury Department and request an influx of fresh cash, which is transported by armored trucks navigating according to a closed-end GPS system which directs them to City Deposit. If the drivers deviate from the route, the trucks are shut down. Ian hacked into the system and directed the cash to come to his base. Breaking into the treasury's asymmetric encryption was not even beyond his capabilities. The terminal was configured to only connect with the treasury's IP. When Xander followed the truck and arrived at Ian's base, Ian's motion-sensored guns aimed at him. Xander responded by firing a grappling hook arrow to swing around and take out the guns, while Duncan took out the rocket launchers aimed at the armored trucks transporting the cash. Outbreak Xander and Duncan were vaccinated from a virus created by Kai Yoshida, but still had to save Empire City. Xander determined the status of their arsenal, beginning with mobilizing the police and finding something that could neutralize an airborne contagion. Xander knew Kai wasn't using any of the ninja clan's ordinary redoubts in Empire City, and that he hasn't used the virus yet. Realizing that Kai is old school and every way Xander had of finding him was new school, Xander thought he needed to change the way he's looking for him. Xander recalled that trying to find a submarine that's gone dark he should look for what's out of the ordinary in the water, so he looked for what's unusual and maybe that would point them to how or where Kai plans to release the virus. Xander found that the entire top floor of the Big Apple Hotel was closed, and Kai doesn't frequent hotels. Xander learned that according to internal e-mails, the floor was shut down for Kai's most bitter enemy. Xander realized that's why Kai hasn't released the virus, because he wants to use it to take out his nemesis. Xander thought that they could trade Kai's nemesis for the virus. Xander made his way to the top of a building across the street from the hotel, counting two on the roof with one on the penthouse floor, while Duncan got two guarding the elevators, another three going in and out of the service entrance, a patrol in the stairwell, and same for the northwest corridor. They kept the clan from joining the party. As Xander got into position, Duncan took down the guards. Xander zip-lined into the hotel, warning who he assumed was Kai's nemesis about Kai planning a bio-weapon to take the former out. The man revealed himself as Kai's nemesis' assistant, stating that his employer left Empire the moment he learned of Kai's intention. The assistant's phone began to rang before he was shot down, and the phone answered as Kai, admitting it was a bold gambit hoping to leverage his nemesis, one which would have done Xander no good as Kai set in motion the death of Empire City 10 minutes ago. Kai also revealed the virus shall be disseminated by means of four vessels, four instruments of death, and Kai doubted that Xander and his friend would have time to stop all of them. Kai swore that Xander would see his city perish. Xander told Duncan that Kai's nemesis, was gone, and the man he found was a cut out. He also told Duncan that Kai planned to release the virus at four points across the city. Xander worked on a containment system that can safely neutralize the virus if he could get his hands on it, but he needed four of them and a way to spread the inoculation if that got out of control. Xander scrubbed through all the information he got on the virus. The virus gave off a low-level emission from its RNA, almost like radiation. Xander realized if he could hack the Keyhole Hexagon satellite, he could tune the quad band to search for it. Xander needed probable locations where Kai would release the virus, and when the satellite trace was back, Xander got four locations. Xander and Duncan got a runner carrying a metal briefcase, assuming the bio-weapon was in the briefcase. Xander was scrubbing footage from traffic and surveillance cameras at the remaining three locations. Duncan shot down the man with the briefcase, but it was empty. Xander realized the man was the weapon, and that Kai was using his own men to disperse the virus. Empire City appeared to be in the throes of a biological attack, wit an outbreak at Rockefeller Plaza. The virus spread when infected blood was exposed to open air. To stop them from spreading the virus, Xander and Duncan got civilians off the streets and into secure places. Xander and Duncan killed the rest, putting them in the Decommissioned CDC Facility. The virus was spreading, and Xander had to replicate the inoculant and disseminate it over a three-block radius. Xander made the nanotech from his nanite arrows airborne by uploading the operating code to the nanotech by rewriting on the fly, and if he couldn't get the nanotech to disperse the inoculant, thousands of people in Empire City would die. Xander was on site when a ninja greeted him, saying that Kai awaited him on a rooftop, as he wished to be in Xander's presence has his city died. Kai knew of Xander's deluded belief that he could defeat him in battle, and he knows that as long as he lives he will continue to threaten Xander's home. Xander made his way to the building to duel Kai Yoshida, and the police didn't know why they were fighting each other, but they were ordered to take them out as soon as they had a clean shot. Final Battle with Kai Yoshida Kai and his army of ninjas were waiting for Xander and Duncan as they arrived on the rooftop. As a standoff ensued, Kai told them that they belonged in graves. He then proceeded to attack the pair using his Kyoketsu-shoge. While Kai fought Xander single-handedly, his soldiers battled Duncan. Xander eventually disarmed Kai during the battle and Duncan rushed in to assist in the fight as the pair slowly beat the warrior in combat. As Xander told him that his army would lose this war and ordered him to leave Empire City alone, Kai rushed to his feet and attacked the pair once again, managing to subdue them both. Kai ordered his soldiers to kill Xander, however while Xander was still able to fight, he received assistance from Duncan who began shooting at the ninja soldiers with his bow, allowing the furious Xander to rush towards Kai. Fueled by rage, Xander beat Kai back with ease before using his grappling hook arrow to tie a wire around Kai's head before launching him off the rooftop as he fell several floors to the hard ground and died upon impact. Personality Agent Xander Mercury was hand-picked from Empire City by the Director for his leadership abilities, strategic prowess, combat skills, and his tendency to do what he believes to be right even when that conflicts with his commanding officer's orders. Xander has a strong moral foundation and is not without his charm. He is a man of few words, but always cool under fire and ready for action. Xander is fiercely loyal, and would willingly give up his life for justice. Xander is a morally righteous hero with a strong sense of law and justice. Xander objects to total violence and prefers to keep his enemies alive and defeating them rather then slay them. However, Xander does have a dark side, and will not hesitate to badly hurt foes in certain circumstances, often when he is under a period of stress. Xander suffers from severe clinical depression, which has led him to indulge himself in self-destructive tendencies. Relationships Family *Adrianne Mercury - Mother *Simon Mercury - Father Allies *Samuel Garamond *Duncan Grey Enemies *Empire City Triads *Ian Murphy *Emmet Rose *Klaus Schlechtnacht *Kai Yoshida *Leona Zolnerowich Abilities A natural athlete, Xander is trained in firearms, explosives, throwing knives, and hand-to-hand combat, in addition to his skills with a bow. Xander has worked multiple times on tactical missions at various locations all around the globe. *'Bow Mastery:' Xander has trained himself to become a master archer specializing in the use of regular bows, longbows, compound bows, and crossbows with perfect accuracy. He is capable of firing multiple arrows at a single target in a few seconds, and directly hit small targets in the greatest of distances. He is ambidextrous, able to use bows with either hand in either place. Xander's feats as an archer include being able to precisely hit targets at great distances, shoot objects off of people without harming them, shoot even while he is in rapid movement, anticipate an enemy's projectile to block it with an arrow, and fire multiple arrows at once. Throughout his career as a vigilante, word began to spread that Xander never misses a shot. Xander is also able to combine his skills as a bowman with close combat, allowing him to shift between melee and archery with ease. Xander is also capable of using his bow as a melee weapon in close quarters combat. *'Master Marksman:' Xander possesses very keen eyesight, and his accuracy is virtually unerring. He is able to shoot down enemies without even looking at them, and hit at his target's weak points with extreme accuracy. He can also score a bullseye with three arrows simultaneously thrown without effort. Xander is also an excellent all-around marksman well versed in conventional firearms. Due to his training, Xander is a deadly shot. Hence, as the vigilante, Xander never misses his target, and easily avoids injuring innocent civilians, thus managing to swiftly take down criminals from an immense distance away. *'Master Assassin:' Xander is an excellent assassin, having been sent by the Agency to kill the Belt Black Widow, a woman notoriously known for her assassination skills, and is assigned to be a special agent in the Agency's investigations of the items of unknown origin, able to neutralize trespassers in case it was ordered. *'Master Martial Artist:' Xander was rigorously trained in martial arts at a young age, and excelled in it. He continued training himself, becoming an exceptionally fit man who is extremely skilled in martial arts. Xander eventually used his skills to fight crime as the vigilante. Hence, Xander could take down the criminals of Hell's Kitchen with ease, defeating professional hitmen, highly skilled assassins, single-handedly take down eight Russian gangsters at once, and was even able to take down multiple cops while handcuffed. Though with some difficulty, Xander is also ultimately able to overpower men of immense brute strength, and even flip him through the air during fights. **'Sword Mastery:' Xander is capable of using a sword during combat. However, because of his sole reliance on his archery skills they are exceptional dull. **'Knife Mastery:' Xander is shown to be skilled with knives. He is able to kill a man with a single stab. Xander is also skilled in using knives in long-range combat, and can utilize his arrows as improvised knives in combat, by using them to stab enemies. *'Master Acrobat:' Xander incorporates gymnastics and acrobatics into his fighting style as he battles opponents, and could already do several agile flips as a child. He is skilled with parkour and free-running and able to quickly move over rooftops and climb buildings, managing to keep up with a car this way. Even when handcuffed, Xander performed an agile back flip, bringing his hands back in front of his torso. *'Staff Mastery:' Xander is highly skilled in the use of staves and similar melee weapons. Xander is capable of skillfully wielding a baton in combat, and using his bow as a melee weapon in the manner of an improvised staff. His bow is also capable of transforming into an actual bo staff, which he shows great skill in wielding against his enemies. "I'll end this right here. All I need is one arrow and the laws of physics. You wanna argue with physics, Einstein?" *'Genius-Level Intellect:' Xander has become a very well known agent in the Agency tech community for his technological expertise. **'Master Tactician:' Xander is an accomplished strategist. He is able to formulate battle strategies and his brilliant tactical sense allows him to alter any strategy to fit the changing need of the situation. Xander, given his lack of superpowers, often uses cunning and planning to successfully outwit stronger and more powerful foes, rather than simply out-fighting them, often using any of their exploitable weaknesses to his advantage. **'Master Engineer:' Xander has designed and created many of the equipment commonly used by Agency agents. He has also created many of the tools used for analysis and scientific work. The sensitive nature of many missions has made him to develop devices against the clock that needed to be adapted to the parameters of each mission. Additionally is able to forge and craft his own custom made arrows and attach them with a variety of devices such as explosives. **'Master Scientist:' Xander's expertise in the field of biochemistry has allowed him to work in the research and development of many breakthrough discoveries. He is highly gifted and knowledgeable in many fields of science practiced such as biology, biochemistry, anatomy and physics. **'Master Physician:' Xander, if not an Agency doctor, was often charged with evaluating and treating any injuries sustained by his teammates and colleagues, being skilled enough to apply advanced first aid to people when they are shot, and to perform an autopsy on a corpse. He has extensive knowledge of human, animal and alien physiology, anatomy and DNA when needed even beating out scientists, physicians and terroristic agencies ahead of time. **'Master Spy:' Xander is a proficient agent trained in espionage, stealth, disguise and infiltration. He has spent years on some missions as an undercover agent. **'Master Investigator:' Xander is a highly skilled detective, capable of observation, forensic investigation, and psychological assessments, as well as both inductive and deductive reasoning of the highest caliber. Xander also effectively utilizes his detective skills. **'Master Interrogator:' During his time with the Agency, Xander became an effective interrogator and torturer. He is capable of inflicting much physical pain into a target without killing them and is even capable of using mind games to worsen the discomfort. As the vigilante, Xander commands an intimidating presence to where most criminals fear him and give up information willingly. **'Master Hacker:' Xander is an accomplished computer hacker. On many missions, these skills were utilized for intelligence gathering and data interpretation. Xander is a master at pattern recognition and analysis; in other words, he picks up on patterns that others do not notice. **'Explosives Mastery:' Xander has extensive experience with explosives. He knows how to install landmines safely, and he also has access to C-4. **'Multilingualism:' Xander is fluent in 5 languages, including English, French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. Xander used this skill in missions, most times as an undercover agent. Weaknesses *'Human Vulnerabilities:' Xander's greatest weakness is that he is a human with no enhanced strength, speed, durability, or superhuman powers, therefore making him quite vulnerable to the physical attacks of stronger and more powerful opponents. Xander, however, usually compensates for this quite well with his highly durable fire- and bulletproof suits, tremendous combat skills, his self-achieved nigh-superhuman physical condition, highly sophisticated technological gadgets, and brilliant tactical intellect. Equipment Attire *'Vigilante Suit:' Made of a polymer blend with ten layers of treated composite materials, this sleek suit serves functions both tactical and diagnostic, monitoring vitals and providing state-of-the-art ballistic protection for Xander. Xander coated his suit with polyethylene, glycol, and silicate to form hydro-clusters when impacted by kinetic energy. *'Quiver:' Xander's quiver is supplied with a multitude of different arrowheads in the bottom. By dialing up an armament setting from a control on his bow, Xander can cause the quiver to affix these special arrowheads. This effectively increases the capabilities from conventional arrows, to explosive arrows, a grapple line, and more. *'Mask:' Xander's identity concealer is a mask made of a compressible micro-fabric that conforms perfectly to his face and does not affect his ability to aim while he is on the run. *'Visor:' Xander's pinpoint targeting visor locks his aim on the threat closest to his crosshairs. If an enemy leaves his line of sight, Xander can quickly switch to another target. *'Comm Receiver:' The brand new encoded model of the comm receiver, with a repurposed IDIS chip, and has no external receiver for the inner ear comms, but instead embedded sensorineural silicone matched to his DNA. *'Utility Belt:' Xander wears a utility belt containing tactical devices and equipment for battle. Weaponry and Gadgets *'Recurve Bow:' Xander is seen with a recurve bow. It is a heavily customized Hoyt Gamemaster II in blackout colors, and is capable of folding on itself for easier transport and concealment by way of added hinges located by the tiller adjustment bolts. It also has multiple buttons on the bow's grip which are capable of selecting specific arrowheads stored in his mechanical quiver. A laser sight to assist in targeting can also be found on the riser. The bow has a capability to transform into a bo staff which can be used for up close combat. *'Arrows:' Xander has standard arrows made to easily penetrate and injure an enemy while also being difficult to directly remove from a wound. Like any standard arrow, this arrow type is suitable for stealth operations because it makes minimal noise and is less conspicuous than Xander's other, more specialized arrows. *'Trick Arrows:' Xander's weapon of choice, the collapsible recurve bow, comes equipped with an arsenal of custom designed arrows. These arrows range from smoke screens to EMP detonators to grappling hooks to thermal incendiary and so on. *'Speed Loader:' Xander uses a speed loader arrow cartridge capable of holding nine collapsible arrows. *'Flechette:' Xander fires a dart from his sidearm, rendering an enemy unconscious (though any damage will rouse them). *'Colt M1911:' A world-renowned pistol that was once commonly used in the U.S. military. It packs a lot of stopping power at close range, and this black, silenced 1911 offers close-range damage without detection. Xander's gun is liquid helium-cooled, and has a titanium barrel and slide. Xander built a handprint lock into the grip so the firing pin won't engage without his hand on the trigger. "If they double their guards, I better double my weapons."-Xander Mercury *'Heckler & Koch HK416:' A well-built German assault rifle. A solid weapon best used for range fighting. This assault rifle has the highest rate of fire on the market, delivering rapid, albeit weak, discharges. *'Barrett M107CQ:' A .50 caliber sniper rifle. It's sleek, highly accurate, and can rip through almost anything in its path. This anti-material monster only holds two rounds, but those rounds can penetrate nearly anything and leave any vehicle they hit in ruins. "Say you need to tag a fleeing vehicle."-Xander Mercury *'Tag Rounds:' Rounds built with a micro-receiver, which enables him to track his target via satellite. *'FN Five-Seven MK2:' Xander carries an FN Five-Seven MK2 5.7 millimeter with 20 rounds as one of his hidden weapons. *'Garrote:' Xander carries a polyfiber garrote with metal handles as one of his hidden weapons. *'Wenoka Squeeze Lock Knife:' Xander carries a 7.6 centimeter blade knife as one of his hidden weapons. *'Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380:' Xander carries a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380 9 millimeter with 6 rounds as one of his hidden weapons. Transportation *'Motorcycle:' Xander's bike uses a kinetic energy recovery system, it stores the energy he uses braking to accelerate later on. Trivia *Xander is ambidextrous. *Xander calls headshots "brainshots." *Xander's phone number is 212-256-1084. *Xander's online screenname is 2Pr3cise. *Xander lives in Apartment 5F in Midtown West Apartments. *Xander's favorite spot in Empire City is the top of the Chrysler Building. *Xander jumps off buildings during patrol without mapping out how and where he lands. Mercury, Xander Mercury, Xander Mercury, Xander Mercury, Xander Mercury, Xander